Application of Nanotechnology in the Mitigation of Air Pollution Exposure for Better Public Health

Till today, air pollution is one of the leading causes of global burden of diseases. According to the World Health Organization, more than 13.7 million people died in 2016 as a result of living and working in unhealthy environments. Transportation, manufacturing, construction, petroleum refining, mining, and other practices that are parts of the ongoing industrialization and urbanisation mechanisms, deplete natural resources and generate substantial amounts of hazardous wastes that pollute the air and severely affecting public health and environmental stability. In this context, stringent and comprehensive mitigation measures should be adopted which in turn results in better environment quality and improve public health circumstances. Nanotechnology is an emerging field of science which uses nanomaterials for treatment of polluted air matrices. Due to their distinctive surface characteristics, nanoscale materials have the ability to remove a variety of contaminants from the environment. This chapter will discuss about the public health and economic burden due to air pollution followed by the implications of science and technology in the form of nanotechnology to mitigate air pollution for better public health.